Day 3 Winner of Quarto’s 2023 Thunderdome Flash Fiction Contest. View the prompt here
Illustration by Watson Frank
I was right, in the end. A bit too gauche. Times were tasteless enough to say “kitsch” but that was the worst of it. No great outcry, I’m afraid. Most of them sit in storerooms now.
London got 9 and 1 which is a nice symmetry. They put 1 on display until Guardian ran a piece on it. It didn’t say anything about the work itself (on strict orders, I’d wager) but it was enough. I don’t think 9 ever got shown, which is a shame—it had those drip patterns I liked near the bottom.
2 went to Amsterdam who are showing it still. A few flecks, but nothing awful. I’m afraid they like it a bit too much for your taste. Guided tours, a podcast episode, that sort of thing. I hear they’re putting it on a postcard soon.
Seoul claimed three of them. Unfair, perhaps, but no one protested. 4 and 6 were displayed together for a month-long “emergency exhibition” before retiring to the back with 3. I was in touch with the curator last week; he says they’ve been approached by a private buyer. I told him what you would have wanted. He didn’t seem to care and frankly, I don’t blame him.
7 and 8 went to the States. A public decency group raised a fuss and it was news for a day or two. I don’t know where they are, but neither is shown in MOMA so you can be happy with that at least.
And then no one wanted 5—so it’s mine. It was heaviest hit, being right behind the head. There’s a small tear in the canvas, actually. Very tactile. It turned out too loud though—and there’s the smell. Like I said. A tad gauche. I think you would agree.